Texas Detention Center Closed After Child's Death

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

The medical authorities of the Central Processing Center of Weslaco - the main migrant processing center of McAllen, in Texas - were forced to temporarily close said place after the death of a 16-year-old Guatemalan boy was confirmed on Monday. processed in these facilities and who was diagnosed with the flu.

"A Guatemalan boy died this morning at the Weslaco station in the Rio Grande Valley Sector of the United States border [with Mexico]," Border Patrol spokesmen reported Monday in a statement posted on networks. "According to initial reports from the Border Patrol, agents arrested the young man on May 13 for illegal entry [into the country]. He was transferred to the Weslaco Processing Center on Sunday and awaiting transfer from the Office of Health and Human Services of the Office of Refugee Relocation. This morning he was found unconscious during a checkup."

"To prevent the disease from spreading, the Rio Grande Valley Sector has temporarily closed acceptance operations at the [center] of the CPC," he said. Authorities also confirmed that 32 cases of influenza have been diagnosed in this center - one of the busiest on the southern border - and signs of a flu-related illness have been found. Those who are admitted there remain locked in communal cages where they are in contact with dozens of other migrants.

The deceased responded to the name of Carlos Gregorio Hernández Vásquez and was detained for six days. The teenager was diagnosed with the flu last Sunday and was taken to a smaller Border Patrol station and died there.

Rigoberta Vasquez, mother of the deceased minor, shows a photo of her son at his home in Cubulco, Baja Verapaz, Guatemala, while he awaits the repatriation of his son's remains:

Rigoberta Vasquez, mother of carlos gregorio hernandez vasquez

This Tuesday the CPC facilities resumed activities after the brief quarantine, as confirmed by The Washington Post. "The people detained in the Rio Grande Valley sector would have been taken to other places until the situation is resolved," it was said. For his part, a Border Patrol spokesperson spoke about the agency's response to the health crisis in the center: "The Border Patrol acted quickly to mitigate the spread of any disease."

Hernández Vásquez is the fifth child of Guatemalan origin who has died since December after remaining in custody of the authorities when crossing the southern border. Two of the victims died as a result of sepsis, one more died after presenting high temperatures and on May 16 the fourth youngest died, a two and a half year old boy, whose cause of death has not yet been revealed.